Regarding Power, or how the policies of Theseus were altered
The Stranger
t was a dark and stormy night. It was raining and thundering more than in the worst story cliches one could imagine. Theseus was sitting in the lounge of his castle, when he heard a banging from his door. Theseus stood up and went to open the door. A tall figure wearing a cloak that hid most of his face stood there.
Let me in, for I need to speak with you", the stranger said.
And who may you be, stranger?", the hero replied.
"My name does not matter. My knowledge does. In these dark times Gaul needs me. Come, we must talk."
Theseus looked at the man suspiciously, a complete stranger walking in refusing to answer questions? "Very well, get on with it then, if you weren't aware yet, I am a busy man. What is so important?"
"There is a new danger rising in the east", the stranger replied, and walked to the lounge table, pulling up a pergament. This was a map covering all of the known Mediterranean. "The foreign policies of Gaul are plunging you to doom, Theseus. I have come to offer my help".
"Look at the picture of Gaul. Do you see what is wrong?", the stranger asked in a sharp voice.
"Well, no. We lack ports, but the rest seems allright."
"Bearn here, Gerona here, are previous territory of Peloponnesos. Lombardia here, and Liguria here have been your territory, but now belong to Rome. That is part of what is wrong."
The stranger leaned forward, allowing Theseus to see a glimpse of his face from underneath the cloak. The face was full of scars, and the eyes had a witty, powerful but yet somehow evil stare in them.
"Pelops will want his territory back, yet Autolycus is also not content yet, for he wants to border the unknown lands. What do you think he will do, who will he go against, no doubt when they are in bad trouble themselves? Gaul or Sparta?"
"You have been a fool and can trust neither Pelops nor Autolycus for these reasons. And at this very moment, you need the trust, for a new, more grave danger is rising."
The Monster in the East
"A graver Danger? Pelops is stuck fighting Bellerophon, and Leonidas seems to want to kill Autolycus. I think I am very safe here.", said Theseus confidently.
"What you do not know yet is that Bellerophon and Pelops are negotiating peace in secret. Your position will become very slippery soon. While I trust you could repel the attacks of Pelops with the help of Leonidas guarding your back against Autolycus, you can not afford to fight that war", said the stranger, now revealing more of his face from underneath the cloak. There was something odd with his looks, his neck seemed slightly twisted, making his head tilt to the right. This was very uncomfortable to look at, but made the man somehow more convincing.
"What? Peace between Bellerophon and Pelops? Impossible! They have been fighting for allmost the entire time we are here! Besides, how would you know?" Then Theseus reconsidered, he was king afterall: "Why could I not afford it?"
The stranger pointed his finger to Troy on the map. "Because of THIS!" He raised his voice in a dramatical way. Theseus shuddered, even if the tone became slightly comical, in an unintentional way of course.
"You need to make peace with all your neighbours immediately. Even if that means making concessions towards Pelops."
"With all? Surely, Troy is far enough away to allow me to take Lombardia and Liguria again from the Romans?"
"Face it Theseus. You are a hero, not a god nor do you possess even the slightest understanding of how the Gods view the world. While you are brave and good in the ways of war, you need to accept that you are but a child in the grand scheme of things."
"Yes, but what is it about Troy, that gives you the right to insult me?" Theseus looked at this stranger again, still thinking wether he could trust him or not.
"I will explain it to you in a moment. But first, I've heard you Gauls make surprisingly good wine. Do you have some here?"
What arrogance, Theseus thought. Walk in here and ask for wine. "Yes, I have. And since I know my classics, I suppose it is best to give you some, in case you are Zeus in disguise." Theseus clapped in his hands, and a servant filled a glass for him and his strange visitor.
The stranger sipped the wine, and muttered something inaudible in acceptance. The wine was good indeed.
"The gods are vain, Theseus. They are truly vain. They want temples to be rised for them, they want the worship and against it, they give power. The power they give is huge. You can't even imagine how great it is."
"Yes, I know the Gods are powerfull, get to the point or get out of my castle, your choice." Theseus was most definately getting irritated by this arrogant intruder, but still, he was curious to hear what stories the stranger was going to tell him.
"What you do not know, is that the gods will grant knowledge of rich territories unknown to anyone that worships them enough, rising temple after temple to them. Fickle are their ways." The strangers face did not display the slightest of emotion when he spoke. "How many temples ave you raised to the gods? One? Two? Oh, two it is then. A nice mediocre devotion then. But you need to raise many more in order to get to know this hidden rich lands. And that is why, Theseus, that is why you can not afford to fight a war now."
Theseus listened silent. Maybe the man really knew something he didn't.
"Remember Odysseus? He who rose in Hubris, killed Medea and then got crusaded against?"
"Yes, I do. But I have not fallen from the ways of the Gods, and in time I will build more temples, war or no war", replied Theseus.
"There were several heroes participating in the operation to punish Odysseus. Pelops, Perseus, Leonidas, Hector, Orion and Midas all marched to New Ithaca. Now think about what happened to them.
"Pelops died, got a worthless peace of land far away, sold it away. You took his lands then. Perseus was killed too, poor fellow. Leonidas and his son Pleistharkos fought with great numbers and the Spartans lost their king, but they won the war to the alliance".
Theseus nodded his head in agreement while the stranger went on.
"Orion and Midas also fought there, but they were latecomers and careful." The strangers voice got more intriguing bit by bit. There was something odd with his eye, Theseus noticed. He didn't blink.
"The suffering was divided by all the heroes marching to Ithaca. Now look at who got the benefits", The stranger continued.
"Pelops won a worthless piece of land, so got the Spartans. Midas and Perseus gained nothing."
"Orion took these three provinces here, here, and here", the stranger pointed to the map.
A short lesson in deception, manipulation and power
"Do you now see what I meant by Troy?", the stranger finished with a question.
"Yes, Troy took much. But was that not the will of the Gods? Why would I oppose it?", replied Theseus.
"Ahh, but here you do not see the problem here. Troy indeed took much. I bet most of the heroes don't understand how much he took. He took the richest provinces of ex-Medea, and as such he now controls four temples, and two lucrative centres of trade."
"In an instant, he became the strongest and richest in terms of economy, military and his standing with gods. And for what price? He had 6 allies in that war of his. They came to Ithaca to fight Odysseus, not to enrich Hector. And yet nobody seems to notice."
"Yes, indeed he is strong. But he has no chance to ever get here, he would have to destroy Hercules and Leonidas, and likely Autolycus too, before then."
"Don't underestimate the power of gods, Theseus! With his economy and the amount of temples he has dedicated to gods, the gods will come here to smite you if he only asks. That is such power nobody can fight against!"
"The monster in the east will soon awaken. Look how he got into his position, Theseus." The stranger now pointed to provinces here and there in quick succession. "Here he gave up territory to Hercules, and here too. And by doing this, the Evil Genius managed to get a defensible border to his west, the sympathies of his eastern neighbour and generally everybody elses, too. Think about it. Who will want to hurt him? Not a single neighbour of his."
"For his neighbours are concentrated in other issues. Here, Hercules is happy with the natural border and views towards Sparta with his greedy eyes. And yet, he owns only a single temple himself. The fool."
"Here, Phoenicia. Bought by Troy with territory of Medea/Ithaca. A schoolbook example of masterful deception. Orion received three provinces with relatively little effort. In fact, so little effort that everyone took notice. Thus, everyone looks at Orion, not Hector. And yet, Hector gained much much much more! In addtition of this, Hector supports Orion against Midas. This is only to ensure that there would be an unfair peace between those two heroes, so that the conflict would go on and on and on."
Theseus listened to the man carefully, still a bit suspicious.
"Finally, here. Odysseus. He is nothing but a wreck now, travesty of a nation. He was forced to give Hector access to the unknown lands, and he is weak enough to be destroyed by a whim of Hectors."
"Oh, you do know it's only Midas complaining about Orion because they are neighbours, Hercules and Leonidas have signed peace, or so I've heard. Surely, that means Troy can't come here. What matters it to me if he can dominate the east, so long as he can't go west?" What a weird man, thought Theseus, each and every King in the west had long since concluded their neighbours were much more dangerous than some threat from the east.
"You still don't see. Troy has now gained the critical step towards controlling enough temples to make him an unstoppable force. With his economy, it is an easy task for him to build one or two more, and then he gains access to the lands Gods promised to the most devoted, decades before anyone else! Especially his neighbours are all so weak in terms of their relations with gods, that they will never become competitors of his in the promised lands!"
The stranger sounded agitated now. He clearly admired the cunning of Hector, and was furiously trying to make Theseus to realise this, too.
"He will pose no threat to anyone now. He will stay quiet and wear his mask of deception, knowing that he is now too strong for anyone to attack him. He will let the others to fight and waste their resources, he will support them in secret, perhaps even both parties, while he colonizes the promised lands nobody else can get to."
The Conclusion
"And thus, nobody will stand against him, and within a century, Hector is too strong for anyone, and hes wish will be your command, too. That is, if you keep fighting silly wars", the stranger finished with a sarcastic tone, which was lost on Theseus.
"Silly wars? Not at all. Besides, how could Troy ever become strong enough to defeat us all? Surely, the Gods will still favour their chosen champion over Hector, and thus deny him the chance to defeat us?", the king argued.
"Wait and see, wait and see. Do nothing if you choose so. But be aware, every war you fight, costs you what a temple will. You too can get the power to colonise these promised lands, but that can only happen if you build up in peace. War will now be your doom, Theseus. You are not strong enough, nor will the gods let you, to get a single temple from your neighbours. The gods favor the strong, if they proceed by honour, Theseus. And as Hector has proved, even the gods can be deceived."
"Hmm, very well. If these promised lands are granted to me, that would indeed be nice. What do you suggest I do, again?"
"Send messages to your neighbours. Make peace with Pelops, at any cost." The stranger then pointed towards Sardinia on the map. "And take care of this before Hector is too strong, for he can use it to dominate all of the west." Then he stood up, finished his wine with one gulp, and turned around. "We will meet again Theseus! Do not fail Gaul, do not fail yourself!"
Theseus looked on in astonishment as the man left. Was he a messenger from Hades? Still, he would send a messenger to Pelops, perhaps a deal could be struck. And he would need to chat with others, too.
That night, a lot of messengers left Provence for secret missions.